Psychedelic Business Spotlight – December 17

atai Life Sciences Added to NASDAQ Biotechnology Index

This week in psychedelic business news, atai Life Sciences, a Peter Thiel-backed start-up looking to use psychedelic medicine to treat mental health conditions, announced it had been selected for addition to the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index. The move, effective Monday, Dec. 20, comes six months after the biopharmaceutical company first started trading on Wall Street. In a statement, CEO and Co-Founder Florian Brand said joining the index enables atai Life Sciences to reach new audiences.

PharmaTher Announces Positive Research Results for LSD Microneedle Patch

PharmaTher may be one step closer to bringing its next-generation psychedelic medicine delivery system to market. On Tuesday, the clinical-stage biotech company announced it had successfully completed its first research study evaluating MicroDose-MN™—a proprietary microneedle patch for the intradermal conveyance of psychedelics—in delivering lysergic acid diethylamide (“LSD”). The company, which recently completed similar studies with psilocybin and ketamine, is pursuing Phase 2 clinical studies in 2022 with LSD and other psychedelics.

MindMed Appoints Robert Barrow as Chief Executive Officer and Director

MindMed has appointed Robert Barrow permanent CEO and a member of the New York-based psychedelic medicine biotech company’s Board of Directors. An experienced pharmaceutical executive, Barrow has over a decade in the industry and previously served as MindMed’s interim CEO and Chief Development Officer. Meanwhile, Perry Dellelce steps down as MindMed’s Director and Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors, effective immediately, as Carol Vallone is appointed its new Chair of the Board of Directors.

COMPASS Pathways announces positive outcome of COMP360 psilocybin therapy as adjunct to SSRI antidepressants in treatment-resistant depression study

Compass Pathways announced a positive outcome from its exploratory study of 25mg COMP360 psilocybin therapy in conjunction with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) medication. According to Compass Pathways’ Chief Medical Officer Guy Goodwin, these results challenge a long-held belief that SSRI drugs disrupt psilocybin’s therapeutic effect and send a “strong signal” the two could work adjunctively when treating mental health conditions like anxiety and depression.

MAPS and Wesana Health Resume Negotiations

Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) and Wesana Health are moving forward in their negotiation to study the use of MDMA-assisted therapy to treat symptoms associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI). The announcement comes Tuesday on the heels of Wesana, a data-driven life sciences company, receiving a positive analysis from the Boston Consulting Group indicating psychedelic therapy to treat TBI symptoms is commercially viable.

Cybin Awarded Notice of Allowance from U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for CYB004 (Deuterated Psychedelic Tryptamine) for the Treatment of Anxiety Disorders

In psychedelic business patent news, Cybin announced it had been awarded a Notice of Allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a patent related to CYB004, its investigational psychedelic tryptamine compound for the potential treatment of anxiety disorders. The claim’s scope includes other forms of psychedelic tryptamine, like certain deuterated forms of DMT and 5-MeO-DMT. Expected to expire in 2041, the patent covers composition of matter for the CYB004 drug substance as a putative new chemical entity.